By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Investigators examined the scene of a crash this morning at 10th
Avenue near Maluhia Street. The motorcycle driver died at Queen's
Hospital, and his passenger was listed in critical condition.

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Motorcycle
crashes kill 1,
hospitalize 3

The fatal 10th Avenue
accident also critically injures
the driver of a car

By Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin

One man was killed and three others critically injured in three separate motorcycle crashes over a 13-hour period, all involving speed, according to police.

All four men were not wearing helmets.

The fatality occurred today in a 6:15 a.m. collision between a mauka-bound Ninja motorcycle and Subaru station wagon, turning left onto 10th Avenue near Maluhia Street.

The motorcycle operator died at Queen's Hospital while his passenger is listed in critical condition. Both men were wearing only shorts and carrying no identification, police said.

A 54-year-old California man, the car's driver, is also in critical condition at Queen's.

A Palolo woman, 43, who was a passenger in the car, was not seriously injured.

"I heard a motorcycle open up, which is pretty common on this street, then someone yelled out 'oh (expletive)' and I heard this loud boom," said Moki Hill, who lives on the corner of 10th Avenue and Maluhia Street.

"The two guys from the motorcycle were on the ground. A person who saw it says the passenger flew about 15-20 feet in the air before landing on the street. Then a van almost ran him over."

Linda Segawa, manager of Island Mini Mart, said the couple in the car had purchased soft drinks and were turning onto 10th Avenue. The motorcycle broadsided the car, striking it on the driver's side.

"They've got to do something about speeding (on the Palolo side of 10th Avenue), the street is like a race track," Segawa said. "We need something -- bumps or a light -- to get people to slow down."

Motorcycle crashes have accounted for eight of Oahu's 45 traffic fatalities this year. There were nine deaths on Oahu in 1997 from motorcycle crashes, said Patrick Yamamoto of the state Department of Transportation.

Two other motorcyclists were critically injured yesterday in crashes.

A 22-year-old man suffered a fractured skull and internal injuries at 5:25 p.m. when his motorcycle struck a utility pole on Kamehameha Highway at Kahana Bay.

Another motorcycle operator suffered head injuries when he failed to negotiate a left turn at 11:10 p.m. on Kalanianaole Highway and Ainakoa Avenue.

Investigators, meanwhile, are still trying to identify a middle-aged man who suffered critical facial and chest injuries when his car hit a medial barrier at 10:03 p.m. on H-1 freeway near Lagoon Drive. Speed and alcohol appear to be factors, say investigators.